My Grandfather Charles, fought in WWII as a Sapper. He was in N.Africa and Italy under the 8th Army with the British Army. He was awarded: 1939-45 Star African Star Italy Star When he was in Italy, Rome I believe, he met my Grandmother Rina, they apparently married in Rome in either 1944 or 1945 and then both went to live in South Africa, where my father was born. I am trying to hone in on where, in Rome, Charles was likely to have met Rina if possible and would like to find out more about what his time would have been like in Rome in particular. I have his war service records, and although it has been quite interesting and revealing in some respects, much of the writing is intelligible. Any information about his unit the 82nd Workshop sappers would be most appreciated.
Lou, Welcome aboard. Sometimes the expertise here can interpret service records, so please post what you can and wait for a reply. Rome was liberated by US forces on the 4th June 1944. Introduction on: Liberation of Rome My recollection is that the British 8th Army was fighting on the Adriatic coast until the end in May 1945. That would not exclude R&R being an option in Rome, which was luckily not fought over. Nor did the Germans leave behind bombs, as they did in Naples IIRC. I am sure there are books on the liberated Rome, none come to mind though. We do have several members who live in Italy, hopefully they can help. Your grandfather's unit was part of the South African Army, so not Royal Engineers. Their correct title being: 82nd Workshop & Park Company, South Africa Engineer Corps and were part of the 6 South African Armoured Division. See: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory....6-South-African-Armoured-Division-1944-45.pdf I'd overlooked the 8th Army (British) fought alongside the 5th Army (US) in the 15th Army. The South Africans were part of the 2nd Corps, a mainly US formation in April 1945. See: 15th Army Group (UK/US) - Axis History Forum There are no threads here on the 82 / 82nd Workshop, nor an indication how they were organised, although I would expect they followed a British pattern. Somewhere there will be a map of their campaign route through Italy. Needless to say their War Diary is likely to be in the South African National Archives. I am sure there is a South African Army Engineers group, which could be worth contacting. The SA Engineers may have a museum and journal too.
THANK YOU! David for this information, I have yet to pour over it, but will do, thank you for the clarifications too, very helpful.
Thank you, Where is best that I put his records up? On this post or on a separate new one? What is the best format to upload the records in?
Is there a way to correct the title of my original post so that it is correct with the information that you have provided?
Lou, Adding a photo is relatively simple and multiple formats are allowed. There is a thread which I will locate: How to Start a new Thread / Edit Post / Upload Image Only you can edit the thread title from memory; click on 'edit' on bottom left and chose the option.
